Patrick~ Immigration project

Patrick~ Immigration project - Page Text Content

FC: My journal to America | By: Raphiale Alvarez

1: The people in this picture are just like my boat and that is why it is uncomfortable | My name is Raphiale Alvares. I come from Italy to find America and its great opportunities. I am 12 years old and I am going on a boat ride to America with my dad. The year is 1915. The date this book is being started is June 12.

2: First I have to pack up all of my belongings in a little bag and fit everything I can | I had to lug around this bag all day and it was very tiring. | It was very hard to choose what to bring and to leave your old life and hope for the best in America

3: When I left my country I wasn't that sad because I didn't have a lot of friends and it was for a good reason to leave. When we got on the boat it stunk, was small and was really crammed with people. The room I was in had 125 people in it and all where in bunks. | Sometimes we had to eat old dead fish that made the boat even more smelly, It was naaasssty!!

4: On the trip I only had One pair of clothes and one pair of shoes to wear. That was a good reason why the boat smelled because so many people where doing the same thing. | So many people had these shoes on their feet because they where warm. | It was good for me because I had a lot of money so I had good shoes.I did see people suffering because they didn't have shoes at all.

5: Throughout the hard two weeks I had gotten sea sick two times and I was afraid the doctors wouldn't let me through to America.For me this was a bad situation to be in right now because I couldn't go back to my old country! | It was a scary thought to even think that you might not make it past the doctors. | The second time I got sick it was the worst because the trip only had a couple more days left and it was really scary.

6: Soon after the sickness I recovered from the scary cold/ cough. Now I felt really good and was positive I would be fine. | We knew that the next day we would be at Ellis Island and the start to a new life. | Would start tomorrow at Ellis Island.

7: Waking up to the warming sun and the Statue of Liberty was the greatest feeling in my life! It felt like I was at the top of the world. | I rushed to wake up my dad but he didn't remember that we where going to be there today. He thought it was just a regular old annoying day on the boat, until I told him... Then he shot right up and was in a great mood. Finally we where there!!!! America at last!!! | Everyone was saying "look, look, look."

8: We packed our bags and got off the ship. When I saw the building I knew that America would have great cities and not old little towns.

9: W had never seen anything as beautiful as Ellis Island. Everyone from the boat was amazed.

10: When we walked in to the building there was a tall staircase and doctors would examine people from the top of it.They checked to see if they were healthy. | If the doctors could tell if someone had problems or disease.They would put a letter on their back, like L for legs or B for back, and so on and so on.

11: Yes, we were alright after the doctors checked us out. Our next place to go was the baggage room! | On the way to the room I saw a lot of crying families.I was wondering if a person in their family was sent back to Italy? If that happened to me I would be very sad... | Now I realized how much I my dad.

12: here we are, the baggage room. It's a little smelly from the peoples bags that where on the smelly boat. | when we where looking for out bags it was hard because there was thousands of bags all ready in there. | Look those are our bags now we had found our bags and we where off to the next station. | the money exchange...

13: we where wealthy in Italy but in America the money we got was about 1000$ but that was pretty good. | After this stage we where off to a city called Philadelphia and I had heard that it was a great city.

14: On the long train ride there I was so excited that we where finally here in America the greatest place ever. | Even though the trains where very messy I could tell that it would fit jut=st right for my dad and I.

15: In Philadelphia we had a small town house but it was just right and lived in the outskirts of the city. | now it was time to celebrate the new life for us in America. Yay wooo hoooo.